Morocco's King seeks normal ties with Algeria
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The King of Morocco addresses his people to open the borders between his Kingdom and Algeria after years of severed ties.
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Morocco's King Mohammed VI waves upon his arrival at Tunis airport, Friday, May 30, 2014. (AP)
On Saturday, the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, called on Algeria to open the borders between the two countries and the two "brotherly neighbors."
"I pray to Almighty God for things to return to normality, and for the opening of borders between the two neighboring, brother countries and peoples," said Morocco's king in a speech.
During a speech addressed to the Moroccan people on the 24th anniversary of his accession to the throne, the King said that serving his people is not limited to domestic issues only, as he is also keen to establish strong relations with brotherly countries, especially neighboring countries.
According to him, many people have been asking about the relations between Morocco and Algeria, "which are stable relations, and we look forward to them being better."
The King stressed that "I should like to tell the leaders and people of our sister nation, Algeria, that no evil will ever be done to them, nor will any harm ever come to them from Morocco."
Algeria severed its relations with Morocco, on August 24, 2021, and the Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, said at the time that this comes after history proved that the Kingdom of Morocco has never stopped carrying out "despicable acts against our country since independence... Morocco's hostility is systematic and deliberate, since the 1963 war against Algeria."
He explained that the last "hostile" acts from Morocco were statements made by the foreign minister of the Israeli occupation entity from Morocco against Algeria, pointing out that "it has not happened since 1948 that an Israeli minister issued aggressive statements from an Arab country against another Arab country."
The border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed since 1994 after the bombings of the "Atlas Asni" hotel in Marrakech when the late King Hassan II imposed a visa on Algerians to enter the country, which prompted Algeria at the time to close the land borders between the two countries.
That said, Algeria's President Abdelmedjid Tebboune said earlier this year that relations with Morocco had reached "the point of no return."
Diplomatic Spat
Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra announced on August 24, 2021, that his country severed diplomatic ties with Morocco.
On August 25, 2021, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry issued a statement that read: "Morocco has taken note of the unilateral decision of the Algerian authorities to sever diplomatic relations with Morocco starting this day," rejecting the pretexts underlying Algeria's decision.
On November 25, 2021, Senate President Salah Goudjil, a top Algerian official, said that the Israeli Security Minister's visit to Morocco "targets Algeria" after a week of back-and-forths over the Western Sahara territorial dispute.
"The enemies are mobilizing more and more to undermine Algeria" which is "targeted" by the visit, said Goudjil.
A day earlier, the Moroccan National Front contended that "Israel" saw Morocco as a gateway to its greedy ambitions.
Abdul Samad Fathi, the deputy coordinator of the Moroccan National Front to Support Palestine and Oppose Normalization, said the Israeli occupation regards Morocco as the gateway to its greedy ambitions in the Maghreb region and the rest of Africa, and it wants it to wage war on its behalf in the area.
